October Unemployment Rate Up Slightly

According to the US Department of Labor (DoL), the
October jobless rate was 5.7% – up from September’s
5.6%.

The number of nonfarm workers dropped by 5,000 during
the month – worse than predicted by most analysts, whose
projections had ranged from no change to a gain of 7,000
jobs. Still, several areas of the economy added
jobs including finance, insurance and real estate (34,000
jobs) in October, the DoL said.

More Jobless

The DoL revised up the payroll
numbers for the previous two months. It reported a job
loss of 13,000 in September versus the 43,000 drop first
reported, and it said August payrolls climbed 123,000
compared to the 107,000 rise in the original
report.

Within the payroll report,
average hourly earnings rose a mild 0.2% in October to
$14.89, matching September’s 0.2% rise, while the
average length of the workweek slipped somewhat to 34.1
hours in October from September’s 34.2.

In a separate report, the Commerce Department said that
Americans’ incomes, which includes wages, interest and
government benefits, grew by 0.4% in September, on top
of a 0.3% increase the month before. However, that
was lower than the 0.5% increase expected.

Combined with a 0.4% drip in spending, which was the
biggest drop since November 2001, the nation’s
personal savings rate – the percentage of personal
income left over after taxes and spending – rose to its
highest level since June, 4.2%. That was up
noticeably from the 3.4% rate in August.